Just started Year 11 English Standard Module A: Contemporary Possibilities and have no idea how to tackle your assessments?
As a Senior HSC English Tutor with 200+ hours of teaching experience who also graduated with a 95+ ATAR, I understand how overwhelming this module can seem, but stick with me and I’ll give you a clear understanding of what’s expected to help you succeed.
Keep reading for some sample assessment notifications and marking criteria!👇
What is Year 11 Module A: Contemporary Possibilities?
So, what is a contemporary possibility?
How will I be assessed?
What texts will I study in Module A: Contemporary Possibilities?
3 ways to ace your Contemporary Possibilities assessments
What is Year 11 Module A: Contemporary Possibilities?
Rather than looking at the ways that experiences are represented through distinctive voices or visuals, Module A focuses particularly on the process of engaging with meaning.
Take a look at the first half of the rubric put out by NESA. Read through it carefully and then skim through our table glossaries of keywords and ideas:
| Key Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Communication technologies | Any type of technology that allows people to communicate in real-time regardless of their physical location e.g. emails, social media and instant messaging. |
| Multimedia | Multimedia refers to the use of multiple forms of media (e.g. text, images, audio, video) within a single platform or presentation. |
| Multimodal | Multimodal texts communicate through multiple modes (e.g. visual, aural, textual) rather than relying on a single form of expression. Key Difference: Multimedia focuses on the types of media used, while multimodal emphasises how different modes work together to communicate effectively. |
| Nonlinear | Nonlinear texts are those that do not follow a straightforward, sequential structure and can often be engaged with in a non-traditional order. |
| Contemporary society | Another way of saying the society we are living in right now. |
| Composer and responder | The composer is the individual or group who created the text. The responder is anyone who engages with or interprets the text. |
| Reading pathway | A reading pathway is the way the text, along with any additional features, influences or guides how we read it. |
| Aural devices | Any features related to the use of sound e.g. music, sound effects and changes in pitch or volume. |
| Hybridity | Hybridity refers to the blending or merging of different media, genres or forms of communication in digital or multimodal texts, creating new and complex ways of presenting ideas and experiences. |
| Intertextuality | Intertextuality is when a text references or interacts with other texts. It is often used to create a deeper meaning, draw a connection between themes or shape the audience’s understanding through familiar ideas. |
| Digital footprint | A digital footprint is the record of an individual’s online activities e.g. the websites they visit, things they post on social media etc. |
| Register | Register is the choice of grammar, vocabulary and expressions in writing to suit the intended context. |
| Modality | Modality is the way language indicates possibility, certainty or willingness. For example, "I will go" uses the high-modality verb "will" to show certainty. In contrast, "maybe I’ll go" uses the low-modality word "maybe" to suggest uncertainty. |
| Syntax | Syntax is the order in which words are arranged in a sentence. |
| Extract from Rubric | Explanation |
|---|---|
| “Students extend knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the ways that different communication technologies shape the ways that we read, navigate, understand and respond to multimedia, multimodal and nonlinear texts.” | You’ll be exploring a diverse range of texts to examine how they convey meaning and impact readers. In this module, ‘texts’ means a lot more than books and films, this could include websites, apps or videos. |
| “They develop understanding of the creative possibilities made available through these rapidly evolving technologies in the ways we communicate and represent ideas and experiences.” | You’ll learn how technology has provided new opportunities to tell stories in more innovative and accessible ways. |
| “They apply their understanding of the nature, scope and ethical use of digital technology in their own responding and composing.” | You’ll learn about how technology is used, the new types of audiences it reaches and how to engage with it in a safe and responsible manner. This will help inform the way you interpret other texts and create your own. |
| “Students will appreciate the active roles of both composer and responder in controlling and choosing the reading pathways through texts.” | You’ll learn how technology can be used to make nonlinear storytelling more immersive and interactive. For example, online stories can allow you to actively click on links and make choices, rather than just reading or watching passively. |
| “They analyse and interpret the ways composers use and manipulate a variety of aural, language and visual devices to shape our understanding of what we listen to, read or view and may explore notions of hybridity and intertextuality.” | You’ll break down the creative choices made by the creator such as how they use sound, language and images or video. This will enable you to understand the ways texts can combine different mediums and incorporate or interact with other texts. |
| “Through their responding and composing students gain increasing confidence in experimenting with a range of language and visual forms and features to individually or collaboratively design and create their own multimodal or digital texts.” | Using the knowledge you’ve gained from closely studying texts, the next step is to compose your own texts! However, in this module, composing your own texts might mean more than simply writing a short creative story. Because the focus of the module is on a diverse range of text types, you can theoretically be asked to compose any text type as an assessment. |
So, what is a contemporary possibility?
‘Contemporary’ means the time we’re living in right now, and ‘possibilities’ refers to the new options for creators generated by new technologies, such as the internet.
‘Contemporary Possibilities’ also works both ways, meaning that not only will the module look at how these new technologies allow new ways of creating texts, but also new ways to respond to them too.
How will I be assessed?
The assessment task for Module A: Contemporary Possibilities will most likely ask you to create your own multimodal and/or nonlinear text. You might also have to write a short reflection about how your choice of form helped to create meaning.
Below are sample assessment notifications to give you an idea of what might be expected of you:
Sample Assessment 1: Multimodal Text
Part 1:
Construct your own interactive multimodal text to represent a real or imagined local or global social issue. Ideas might include an informative website, an interactive narrative or an online game. The digital file must have media content viewable within 2–3 minutes. You should approach this task with the intention of gaining new skills and developing your understanding of multimodal texts.
Part 2:
Write a 500 word explanation of how you have used the relevant textual forms and features to communicate your ideas and engage the audience.
Marking Guidelines:
A student... Mark range - designs a multimodal digital text that comprehensively explores a local or global social issue
- uses appropriate language forms, features and structures skilfully to engage an audience with the ideas in the text
- composes an insightful reflection on the process and product.
17-20 - designs a multimodal digital text that explores a local or global social issue in a detailed way
- uses language forms, features and structures effectively to engage an audience with the ideas in the text
- composes a purposeful reflection on the process and product.13-16 - designs a multimodal digital text that satisfactorily explores a local or global social issue
- uses language forms, features and structures soundly to engage an audience with the ideas in the text
- composes a sound reflection on the process and product.9-12 - designs a multimodal digital text that attempts to explore a local or global social issue
- uses some language forms, features and structures that attempt to engage an audience with the ideas in the text
- composes a simple reflection on the process and/or product.
5-8 - designs a multimodal digital text that explores a local or global social issue in a limited way
- attempts to use language forms, features and structures in a limited way to communicate ideas
- attempts to compose a reflection on the process and/or product.1-4
Sample Assessment 2: Nonlinear Text
Part 1:
Students are required to compose an original non-linear narrative that gives the responder choice in the story’s progression. The narrative must be presented as a multimodal digital text using one of the platforms explored in class (Prezi, Sway or other multimedia presentation platforms). The narrative should:
- Engage the responder through a variety of multimodal elements such as text, buttons, links, sound, images, video, animations, memes and gifs etc.
- Provide the responder with multiple opportunities to control the narrative’s progression. This could include choice over the direction of the plot, or viewing the perspective of multiple characters.
- Engage the responder with a variety of visual and language forms.
Part 2:
Students will be required to write 500 words reflecting on:
- The process of constructing a nonlinear multimodal text.
- A wide variety of techniques and their impact on the responder.
Marking Guidelines:
A student... Mark range - demonstrates a perceptive understanding of visual and language techniques to convey ideas about contemporary possibilities.
- composes and presents a sophisticated, sustained and engaging narrative response.
- perceptively utilises a variety of multimodal elements, including but not limited to, animations, gifs, sound, images, video, links.
- responds skilfully and demonstrates options to provide multiple reading paths for the responder appropriate to audience, purpose, context and form.17-20 - demonstrates a highly-developed understanding of visual and language techniques to convey ideas about contemporary possibilities
- composes and presents a clear, sustained and engaging narrative response.
- effectively utilises a variety of multimodal elements, including but not limited to, animations, gifs, sound, images, video, links.
- responds effectively and demonstrates options to provide multiple reading paths for the responder appropriate to audience, purpose, context and form.13-16 - demonstrates a sound understanding of visual and language techniques to convey ideas about contemporary possibilities
- composes and presents a sustained and engaging narrative response
- soundly utilises at least two multimodal elements, including but not limited to, animations, gifs, sound, images, video, links.
- attempts to provide multiple reading paths for the responder appropriate to audience, purpose, context and form
9-12 - demonstrates a limited understanding of visual and language techniques to convey ideas about contemporary possibilities.
- demonstrates some ability to compose and present a narrative response
- has a limited application of of multimodal elements, including but not limited to, animations, gifs, sound, images, video, links.
- attempts to compose a narrative with limited appropriateness to audience, purpose and context and form.4-8 - has an elementary understanding of visual and language techniques.
- demonstrates some evidence of the ability to compose a narrative response.
- attempts to compose a narrative.
1-3
Having trouble thinking of ideas for your writing? Brainstorming one interesting scenario is hard enough, but thinking of a whole nonlinear story with multiple branching paths sounds impossible! Luckily, you can just ask Artie, our AI English tutor.
The ‘generate ideas’ feature can help you craft a creative concept you’ll be excited about. For example, here’s the idea it gave me when I put in the description for the assessment task above:
What texts will I study in Module A: Contemporary Possibilities?
Module A involves a detailed study of one digital or multimodal text as well as an overview of “a range of texts that typically use contemporary technologies such as film, television, online news services and specific social media platforms.”
The exact texts chosen are going to be specific to your school, but some common choices are:
- H+ (created by John Cabrera and Cosimo De Tommaso). A sci-fi web series uploaded to this YouTube channel.
- Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek (created by John Branch). A multimedia news article uploaded to the New York Times.
- Run Lola Run (directed by Tom Tykwer). A thriller film with a nonlinear storyline that shows three different scenarios playing out from the same inciting incident.
- HIGHRISE: Universe Within (created by Katerina Cizek). A web-based interactive documentary.
3 Ways to Ace Your Contemporary Possibilities assessments
Tip #1: Ask your teachers what texts you’ll be looking at and find them!
Ideally, you will have read, watched or at least looked at your texts before you start Module A. If not, make sure you take a look as soon as possible! You should be at least familiar with the basics of your texts before you visit them in class.
It would be a good idea to start looking at different examples of multimodal texts and familiarise yourself with how their form determines their meaning.
Tip #2: Revise your literary, aural and visual techniques.
To conduct a close study of a text and to understand how and why a composer presents their work in a certain way, you need to understand your literary and visual techniques!
If you’re unsure what techniques you should be looking for, we’ve got you covered with articles on literary techniques you need to know and a visual techniques cheatsheet if you’re studying a film or other visual text!
Tip #3: Practice creative writing!
The key to good writing in Year 11 Module A: Contemporary Possibilities is practice. This means not only practising your creative writing and short stories, but writing in a variety of nonlinear and multimodal text types.
If you need some help getting started, check out our ultimate guide to Band 6 creative writing since all the key tips about story structure and language techniques still apply in Year 11!
Looking for a tutor to help you ace Year 11 Module A: Contemporary Possibilities?
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Christina Ugov is currently completing a double degree in International and Global Studies and Theatre and Performance at the University of Sydney. Outside of her studies, she enjoys exploring creative writing projects, analysing literature and playing with her cat. She spends her spare time reading, listening to music and drinking lots of tea.
Cameron Croese is a qualified English teacher, who has a Bachelor of Education (Secondary) / Bachelor of Arts (English) from Macquarie University and is currently undertaking a Masters of Education in Melbourne. A long-time Art of Smart coach, Cameron has supported over 60 students from Years 7 to 12! When not studying, Cameron is an avid writer, having won several awards for short stories, including the Alan Marshall Short Story Award.
